Last year, I started the Trash Talk Reverse podcast with an episode about the show You on Netflix, covering all four seasons, the good and the bad. Emphasis on the bad. But I ended the episode saying that I had hopes for season 5 given where season 4 ended. And now that information about season 5 has been announced, I'm already taking back what I said. Let's take a look at where this show could be going, and what it still needs to address.
The finale of You season 4 left Joe in a position of power alongside Kate after he accepted the darkness within him, told his story to the media in the form of a massive lie, and returned home to New York. For a quick refresher on all the issues with the show, as well as its few merits, you can check out the podcast episode here:
I talked about how I was eager to see Joe's downfall and that hopefully season 5 would be the last. On the one hand, it's been confirmed that yes, season 5 will be the end of Joe's story as the creators had planned since the beginning. On the other hand, the information Netflix has teased doesn't exactly sit within the realm of what I was hoping to see.
For one thing, Joe's gonna have these weird in-laws to deal with after he marries Kate: a brother-in-law described as loyal and twin sisters-in-law that are each a CFO and a PR manager. There's also supposed to be this Beck-type character, strangely named Bronte, who's described as "an enigmatic and free-spirited playwright who gets a job at Joe’s new bookstore."
Uhh...what?? Why are they trying to re-create season 1? You gotta move on from that. Why is he back in a bookstore with another Beck? So Bronte can deviate from Beck and be the one to trap him? Why are they repeating the married to one woman and going after another storyline from season 3? So Kate can be the opposite of Love and help him rather than kill the woman he's interested in?
The provided reasoning is that "Bronte stokes in Joe a nostalgia for his former self, causing him to question everything his life has become." This turn makes no sense. He just spent the end of season 4 examining where his life led him and accepted who he became. It happened in a really ridiculous and convoluted way, but it happened nonetheless and the job of season 5 is to pick up from there and move in a forward trajectory.
Instead, we're gonna have yet another season of him just questioning himself? I was hoping to see what Joe would do with this new status he now has. No need to question yourself when you just realized you're a murderer at heart. How is he going to use his power to his advantage to get what he wants? It could've been a chance to explore the way many men in power exploit others and expect to get away with their misdeeds.
The problem with this being the last season is that the writers know everyone will be watching it regardless, so they can essentially do anything they want. They can come up with the worst possible storylines ever, exceeding those that they've already executed, and we'll watch it to the end because we need to know how Joe's story will conclude.
If I was in that writers' room, however, there are a few things from prior seasons that I would want to make sure the final season addresses. For one thing, remember how Joe had an entire jar of urine in Peach's house that the cops found in season 1? Then that PI at the end of season was looking into it and when he saw Beck's book, he called BS? Yeah, I wonder if that guy's still out there somewhere. And if he is, then will the framed therapist Dr. Nicky make a reappearance as well?
Moving onto season 2, will we possibly see Delilah's sister Ellie again? Maybe she'll come find Joe, no doubt recognizing him after all the press he did at the end of season 4. And if she recognizes him, surely Sherry and Carey will too? Because at last call, those two got locked in a cage by both Joe and Love. Or will they want to stay far away from the man they remember as dangerous? What about Joe's son Henry who's out there being raised by his former acquaintances Dante and Lansing? Will they recognize him and/or will Joe seek Henry out? (I doubt he'll go looking for Henry himself.)
Most of all, will we ever see poor Nadia get her justice? That girl needs some serious legal help. I mean, maybe we can get Marienne back to testify on her behalf? But again, it's dangerous for her to put herself and her daughter on the line. I'll just be really annoyed if the show ends without getting Nadia off the hook (and getting Joe on) because that's just too damn depressing. I don't care if it's more "realistic" for bad guys in real life to get away with crimes. Actually, is it more realistic or is that just something writers say when they want to give us a bad ending?
If this show ends without Joe getting exposed for all his crimes, then I'll become the show's biggest hater. I honestly don't know how things will work out, but seeing things completely unravel for Joe as he desperately tries to keep his life together would really put this show back on its original level.
It's crazy how I can be so disappointed with so much of what they've done in this show and still be tuning in because that potential is still in there. I'm just hoping that I haven't wasted my time these past few years watching a show that might end badly. Please let this season end with Joe's life imploding and his victims finally getting their justice. Whether he goes to jail or dies or has to go into hiding in Siberia, as long as the truth is out there, I'd consider that a win for the trainwreck this show has become.
As I quoted in my podcast episode, Penn Badgely himself said Joe needs to get some sort of comeuppance. I don't know if he said that because he had insight into where Joe's storyline would end up or if that was just his own personal opinion. But for the audience's sake, I hope it was either the former, or that they listened to him and changed their minds.
Granted, we still have time until the show comes out, as it is most likely set to debut near the end of 2024. Until then, all we can do is hope that the writers have made the right choices because our fate, as much as Joe's, is in their hands.